France's 16-year-old wonder earns three-set victory over 21-year-old
Spaniard Lopez; Arazi qualifies.
In the only main draw match on the opening day of the Open 13 in Marseille,
16-year-old French prodigy Richard Gasquet thrilled local fans by winning a
tough match against rising Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4.
In 2002, Gasquet became the youngest player in 15 years to win a main draw
match on the ATP circuit in Monte Carlo, where he had also become the
youngest player ever to qualify for a Tennis Masters Series event. He was
the youngest player in the ATP's year-end Top 200 last year, and his Entry
Ranking has surged to a career-high No. 139 after he reached the semifinals
of the Challenger event in Belgrade last week.
The final round of qualifying was also played on Monday, with four players
advancing to the main draw. In a clash of battle-tested ATP veterans,
29-year-old Hicham Arazi of Morocco stopped 37-year-old Italian ironman
Gianluca Pozzi, 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-4 in a 2-hour, 26-minute test of endurance.
Also advancing were Spaniard Alex Calatrava and Frenchmen Cyril Saulnier
(who lives in nearby Saint Cyr sur Mer and is commuting to the tournament
from his home) and Rodolphe Cadart (who has played just six ATP-level
matches in his career, with his sole victory coming over former Australian
Open champ Petr Korda at Orlando in 1999).
WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID
Gasquet: "The crowd in Marseille was great, it was really special to play
in front of this public."
"I am looking forward to possibly playing Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the next
round -- he was always one of my heroes growing up."
"I'm not hoping for anything special in this tournament -- I have no
expectations, all that I am hoping for is to play a good match, to play well."
Arazi: "Playing in qualifying can be a good thing. I have some matches
under my belt and now I am used to playing on the surface here."
Saulnier: About making the main draw again after qualifying for 8 ATP
events in 2002, second best on ATP circuit - "I think it was 8 times
last year that I did it. It's OK, I'm used to playing qualifying, it's
just another tournament for me. Maybe it's a little more exciting because
I'm just 30km from home. I had alot of friends and family here today."
TUESDAY PREVIEW
Defending Open 13 champion Thomas Enqvist of Sweden, who also won the event
in 1997 and 1998, takes the court in his opening round match against Raemon
Sluiter of The Netherlands, and both players have identical 1-4 match
records in 2003. Despite picking up the Marseille title, the 19th tournament
win of his career, Enqvist last year failed to finish in the Top 30 and win
30 matches for the first time since 1994, as he ended 2002 with a 28-16
record that carried him to No. 42 in the ATP Champions Race.
Sluiter is coming off a difficult Davis Cup showing, where he lost his
singles match to Roger Federer in straight sets as part of The Netherlands'
3-2 loss to Switzerland. He finished 2002 at a career-high Entry Ranking of
No. 70 after winning four Challenger titles and winning a best-ever 12 ATP-
level matches on the year, including a semifinal showing at Queen's and a
quarterfinal result in Stockholm.
In other first round action Tuesday, qualifier Hicham Arazi looks to
continue his mastery over the Slovak Republic's Dominik Hrbaty. The
flashy Moroccan finished 2002 outside of the Top 50 for the first
time since 1996, but has won both career encounters with Hrbaty in
straight sets. Also, French qualifier Rodolphe Cadart takes on
Georgia's Irakli Labadze for a spot in the second round.
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